


We're all a mess, but maybe we could all be a mess together?

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Best Friends, Developing Friendships, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Overprotective, POV Macaroni Samsonite, Sharing a Room, Size Difference, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, The Darrington Brigade Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21687526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: A decision to join an adventuring group full of other messed-up misfits might change Buddy and Mac's situation just a little bit, starting with being given lots of nice food and a warm room to sleep in, but maybe, someday, they might become something of a family, and Buddy couldn't be happier about it.Mac cared about Buddy very, very much, and though he didn’t really need to, he worried about him every single second of every single day, because Buddy was all he had. But now, maybe Mac didn’t have to look out for Buddy by himself anymore, and maybe they no longer had to be alone.
Relationships: Buddy & Macaroni Samsonite
Comments: 14
Kudos: 95





	We're all a mess, but maybe we could all be a mess together?

**Author's Note:**

> Gosh, I've never really written about a CR one-shot before, but I love the DB one so much that I had no choice, it wouldn't leave me until I did. (I think I might be the first one?? I've been looking for fics since the ep came out and I haven't seen any??) I'm probably going to write something about the werewolves next! (You know, the werewolves siblings from Liam's one shot with the last name I can't spell.) Anyway, this was a really fun write and I love the Darrington Brigade so much and I really hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it xx

They had never been to Deastok before, but they assumed that the fliers littered around town were new additions to the decorations, if the strange looks the locals were giving them were any indication. They were used to strange looks- Buddy got them all the time walking through anywhere that wasn’t dense woodland, and Mac just got them regardless of where he was- he was covered in stolen bones and hide he had skinned himself, those who didn’t know him would consider him feral.

And they did watch as they passed, and gave Buddy a wide berth as he made his way through the town. Mac caught sight of a flyer first and made Buddy stop so Mac could scurry down his arm and pluck it from where it was nailed into a wooden post.

The glossy, thick paper was obviously expensive, and the portrait of the goateed man was professionally done. The dark black ink that was scrawled across the flyer advertised something called a Darrington Brigade, a not for profit organization dedicated to fighting beasts and saving people, and while there was no money involved, Mac was happy to see what it was about, partly because he was bored, mostly because Buddy was lonely and definitely because they were hungry.

“Hey Buddy, look at this,” Mac said, leaning around so he could place the flyer right in front of Buddy’s face, and Buddy squinted harder at the piece of paper.

“What is it?” Buddy asked in his deep, rumbling voice as he slowly went to reach of the flyer, but Mac pulled it out of his reach. “Oh.”

“It might be a warm bed and lots of food in our stomachs,” Mac said as he read the information over again. “The old Darrington estate? I think I saw that on our way in- it might be worth checking out.”

Buddy made a deep sound low in his throat. “OK,”

“I think this will be good, Buddy,” Mac said eagerly as he tugged on the mudflaps that hung down over Buddy’s ears from his brown hat. “A chance to see the world, meet new people, steal new things, kill bad people and maybe some good ones if we have to.”

“Wait,” Buddy paused his lumbering gait. “Friends?”

“Yeah Buddy,” Mac replied, laughing a little. “They’d probably be friends.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” Buddy replied as he turned around and took off towards the direction of the Darrington estate that they had seen on their arrival without any more prompting from Mac, almost trampling the poor locals and forcing them to dive out of the way of his feet in his haste to meet new friends.

By no means did they ever expect to arrive at the Darrington estate and be welcomed by opened arms, and they never expected to be met by the motley crew that stood at the front gates, waiting for their host.

A tall scruffy man that wore the pelt of some sort of beast over his head and stunk almost as bad as Mac and Buddy did, a woman made of air who Mac knew just by looking her over could knock him on his ass before he could blink, a short woman who made up for her size with volume and character and who never seemed to shut up even for a moment, and a woman who might have been a man dressed like an important person and who looked like she could kick his ass five ways to Sunday.

And their hosts... well. A shiny man with a long blonde goatee decorated in jewel-studded armour that looked like it cost more than Buddy and Mac were worth combined, a weird robot thing that stood almost as tall as Buddy and wrote down everything that was going on and an overly-excitable half-orc who enjoyed combat too much and who could talk to... ducks?

But regardless of how strange these people were, they didn’t mock Mac for being covered in bones and they didn’t make fun of Buddy for being a little slow. They gave Buddy a pair of glasses, a feat not even Mac himself had been able to accomplish, and fitted him with a new chariot so Mac could better sit atop Buddy’s shoulders. They were as nice as anyone had ever been to them, and it was new and disorienting, but they liked it. They liked it a lot.

They were even given rooms, which was a shock. Normally, people didn’t let them enter their establishments much less be able to put up with their smell ruining their room, but Owlbear smelled as bad as they did, and had no problem sharing a room with them, even if he did sleep in the wardrobe on a pile of newspaper and dried grass and fallen branches from the backyard. And people thought Buddy and Mac were strange- at least they slept in a bed when they could get it.

It was nice. They weren’t used to friends, and they certainly weren’t used to people being nice to them. Buddy was ecstatic. He was seeing people for the first time, and everything to him was pretty, and Mac couldn’t be happier for him. All he ever wanted was some friends, and while Mac had been there with him pretty much since forever, it was nice that Buddy had more than one person to call his own. Even if Hazel did try to hurt him during the initiation, and even though he hurt her more than she hurt him, Mac wasn’t sure if he would ever forgive her for that.

But it was a nice adventure, even if it was more adventure than Mac had been expecting. When that hooded gnome woman came to tell them what she needed, he thought it would just be something like, 'retrieve this thing, don’t die, give it back to me, get paid', (minus the getting paid part), and that would be that. But then they fought giant wolves with extra growing limbs and eyes that moved around their faces like their bodies were made of putty and a giant green octopus duck in an underground cave with an intergalactic crystal in its butt and a tentacle beard.

They lived. An unexpected yet very positive outcome. They even managed to get the object back to the gnome woman, who paid them the 10,000 gold they were promised, which Tary refused to let them keep, although Mac thought he saw some of the other members of the party sneaking gold into their pockets and the folds of their tunics when Tary and Lionel weren’t looking, and Mac would have done the same himself if he weren’t high up on Buddy’s shoulders. Buddy didn’t take any money, he was too good a soul for that- Lionel handed him a gold piece because he’d never seen one before and once he had finished admiring it, Buddy had handed it right back.

It was a little later now, and Owlbear had already retired to his wardrobe and Mac could hear loud snoring through the closed door. In the other room, the girls were getting drunk off of the fine wine they had stolen from the Darrington estates riffled wine cellar. Tary was off who knew where, probably someone with Lawrence while Lionel went on his mourning quest. Buddy sat on the floor, trying to pick leftover food out from between his chipped and yellowing teeth, while Mac laid on the bed that he was swallowed in, his arms resting behind his head, his legs crossed, staring at the ceiling.

They were still pretty beat up. Well, the others were still pretty beat up, Mac himself was fine. He had done what he could once the battle was over to heal some of their worst wounds and then tried again when they finally returned home, safe and sound, but Buddy had been hurt more than most. Mac hadn’t forgiven Lionel for that, either.

But while Mac had healed Buddy until he had exhausted all his spells, he was still looking a little worse for wear, with new scars and new scabs that Buddy probably didn’t notice, but Mac did, and they upset him every time the healed-over while scars caught his line of sight.

Buddy seemed fine, though. While he was beaten to shit and probably very tired, he was still his normal, everyday self. Any regular person who took as much damage as Buddy did today would be in an incredible amount of pain, but Buddy wasn’t a regular person, so he was just a little bored, and a little hungry.

That didn’t stop Mac from worrying about him, though. They had been through so much together, with nobody but themselves that Mac couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to Buddy. It would break him.

“How are you doing, pal?” Mac asked, breaking the silence.

Blinking heavily, Buddy looked up and grinned at Mac. “OK.”

“Yeah?” Mac replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “You sure? You’re not lying to me, are you?”

Buddy let out a heavy, rolling laugh that seemed to come from deep within him. “No, not lying. All good. Don’t hurt anymore, so I like that. You fixed me up real good.”

“I’m glad to hear it, Buddy,” Mac said. “So, uh, what do you think about these guys? You know, this new group we’re hanging out with for now.”

“I like them,” Buddy said as he played with one of the strange things on the new chariot that currently sat between his spread legs. “They’re pretty. And nice. They like us, I think. I hope.”

“Me too,” Mac said, turning over onto his side to face his larger friend. “They’re weird, but I think we fit right in.”

For a moment, Buddy was silent, and Mac didn’t think anything of it until Buddy made a strange sound low in his throat and he looked at Mac with watery, hopeful eyes. He was an ugly creature, but now that Mac could see them, Buddy had rather nice eyes, even if the glasses did make them look abnormally huge. “Mac? Mac?” he asked into the quiet. Mac hummed in acknowledgment. “Do you think they... they like us? Or are they just... lying? People lie, sometimes.”

Mac couldn’t help but smile, slightly. “Yeah Buddy, I think they really like us. Hazel healed you, remember? And Lionel brought you breakfast. And Tary made your hat all cool and magical. I think they like us.”

“Could they...” Buddy sort of trailed off a little bit. “Could they be a family?”

“A family?” Mac sat up to look at him, a little confused. “What for?”

“For us,” Buddy sounded embarrassed. “A home. I want to be home. Have a home. A family. Want a family.”

“You do?” Mac sat up fully, then, surprised. “I didn’t know that. Aren’t we a family?”

Buddy paused for a moment, thinking hard. “Yeah,” He said eventually. “I guess so.”

Smiling, Mac reached out and placed a hand on Buddy’s shoulder, and winced when Buddy reached up and squeezed it. Not as hard as he used to now that he could see, but still hard enough that Mac grit his teeth in pain as his bones rubbed together. Buddy was a gentle giant who didn’t know his own strength when he wasn’t fighting. “Don’t worry, pal,” Mac said. “We can make our little family bigger. I think you’re right- they could be a good family. I think they like us well enough.”

It was like a switch being flicked, and Buddy’s downcast eyes widened and brightened so much that Mac felt it in his soul. “Really?” he asked. Mac nodded. “Yay! Family. We have a family, Mac!”

There was a frustrated sound from the closet- in all the excitement, Mac hadn’t realized that the loud snoring had ceased. “Can you two chuckle-fucks shut up, already?” Owlbear grumbled, his voice low and thick and grumpy. “Crime never sleeps, but owlbears do, so keep your traps shut.”

“Sorry,” Buddy said, stretching out and banging on the door as an apology. Damian had taught him the ‘knock on wood’ superstition, and now he knocked on wood whenever there was wood around to knock on, and while that wasn’t what Damian had intended, she was thrilled with the outcome. Owlbear muttered curses under his breath, but otherwise fell silent and the snoring started again. “See Mac? He likes us!”

“Yeah Buddy,” Mac couldn’t help but smile. “This is going to be fucking great.”

Mac cared about Buddy very, very much, and though he didn’t really need to, he worried about him every single second of every single day, because Buddy was all he had. But now, maybe Mac didn’t have to look out for Buddy by himself anymore, and maybe they no longer had to be alone.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to be honest with you guys, this one-shot helped me through a very tough week. If you don't want to hear about me being a crybaby, then thank you for reading, you're free to go haha. Gruesome details ahead.
> 
> We rushed hope from an overnight stay at a wedding in the city because we got a phone call from my dad, who stayed home with our dog because he didn't want to go to the wedding, that an hour after we left, Max (our precious American Staffy who thinks he's a lap dog) got his foot caught under the back gate when he went to the fence to bark at three kids on bikes who my dad said were teasing him and banging on the gate to get his attention, and he cut his foot so badly that he severed the bone of his toe from the rest of his foot. There's blood all over the yard and all over Maxie, and a few days ago, he had to get that toe amputated because there was no saving it, so now on his front left foot, he's missing his middle toe. But because we had a look when we got home and there was no blood on the gate (you know when you cut yourself on a knife, there's blood on the blade?) we think that the kids did more than tease him, and actually hit him or cut him with something when his foot stuck through the gate. And on his 2nd birthday, too. So, it's been a very hectic week, and I know that the Critical Role cast would never see this, but I just want to thank them for making my life a little more bearable at the moment and for making me laugh through the tears. (Max loves watching Critical Role too, so that's become our little shared pastime).
> 
> But Max is alright, and the vet said that his stitches are perfect and that he's going to make a full recovery. WE had to worry about getting the bandage wet because then he would get gangrene and he'd lose his leg BUT I took very good care of him and his absolutely fine, just missing a toe. But thanks for CR for making me happy again.


End file.
